BP, the operator of production from the country's key Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli and Shah Deniz fields, reported half-year results on 3 August. According to the press release, ACG produced about 68 million barrels (9 million tonnes) of oil against 77 million barrels (10 million tonnes) in January-June 2022. Production fell by nearly 12 per cent. The company and SOCAR explain this as being due to natural geological depletion of reservoirs. The situation in 2024 will be improved by the launch of a new production platform ACE. So far, the situation is as follows: Chirag platform produced an average of 23,000 bpd of oil in the first half of the year (25,000 bpd in the first half of 2022), Central Azeri - 98,000 bpd (108,000 bpd), West Azeri - 98,000 bpd (108,000 bpd), West Azeri - 98,000 bpd (108,000 bpd), and West Azeri - 98,000 bpd. b/s), "West Azeri" - 91,000 b/s (109,000 b/s), "East Azeri" - 61,000 b/s (62,000 b/s), "Deepwater Guneshli" - 67,000 b/s (78,000 b/s), "West Chirag" - 35,000 b/s (42,000 b/s). According to BP, the cost of the ACG block development project declined by 4.1% to $ 978 mln as compared to H1 2022. "Of the said amount, operating expenses totalled $ 232 mln, while capital expenditures amounted to $746 mln," the company said. Average daily oil production at the block in the first half of 2023 was 375,000 barrels (424,000 barrels in the first half of 2022). The Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea produced 13 bcm of gas in January-June 2023 (SOCAR reported 13.2 bcm), which is the same as in January-June 2022. Approximately 18 million barrels of condensate (more than 2 million tonnes) were also produced from Shah Deniz, which is also in line with January-June last year. "The field's production capacity was approximately 72.6 million cubic metres per day or more than 26.5 billion cubic metres per year," the company said. Earlier, a source in SOCAR told Turan that from the second half of the year the periodically daily production at Shah Deniz will reach its peak level of 76 million cubic metres. The Shah Deniz consortium's expenditures in the first half of 2023 within the framework of the field development totalled $1bn 616m (11.8% growth). At the same time, the project's operating costs exceeded $1bln 208 mln, while capital expenditures exceeded $408 mln. The bulk of the expenditures were incurred on works within Stage-2 of Shah Deniz field development. The company also reported that the South Caucasus pipeline mainline (SCPM) transported an average of 60.7 million cubic metres of gas per day (56.9 million cubic metres per day in January-June 2022). The operating costs of the SCPM in January-June 2023 totalled $39 million, while capital costs exceeded $3 million

Source: Turan News Agency